The present invention is in the technical field of drainage. More particularly, the present invention pertains to seepage drainage and the removal of water by pumping, or a means other than gravitational drainage flow. The most common method to drain water that has been collected from seepage or surface flow is to grade pipe to a lower point. However, in many cases, e.g., particularly in land areas that are near sea level or with very flat property, there is no open airspace for the water to flow to that is lower than the water being collected. Or, if there is any open airspace, in many cases the open air space is such a long distance away that the installation of the drainage system becomes impractical.
Prior art alternatives to gravitational drainage include either siphoning the water to the nearest relief point (for example as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,568, by the same inventor Dennis Hurley, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference), or pumping the water to the nearest relief point. A siphon is typically used when there is a lower airspace available, but it is a long distance away. It can be less expensive to siphon the water to the relief point than to take the water there by running pipe on grade. Siphons also are preferable to gravity systems when the relief point is so far away from the collection point that self-cleaning velocity cannot be achieved with gravity pipe.
If there is no lower airspace, the only known option in the prior art is to pump the water out of the area. If the water is pumped, the pump must pump the water to a higher elevation. The cost to run electrical service or to use solar panels to the pump site can be expensive. Prior art pumps that are used to pump water when there is no lower air space include centrifugal, submersible, or screw type pumps, which are described in the “Water Lifting Devices” publication, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto and which was filed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/617,917, on 16 Jan. 2018. In general, these prior art pumps are referred to herein as standard pumps or as fluid pumps. In general, a fluid pump is a device wherein the fluid that is being pumped passes through the internal workings of the pump that is used.
Some prior art land drainage systems include a vacuum pump in combination with a standard or fluid pump, e.g., in combination with a centrifugal, submersible, or screw pump of some type. The vacuum pump can be used for varying reasons, such as priming a fluid pump or keeping air out of a system that is reducing the efficiency of the pump. But, none of these systems can operate without the fluid pump component. U.S. Pat. No. 1,345,655, for example, references a screw pump and a vacuum pump in combination with an axial flow pump.
A pump sold under the trademark Gould 3888D3—WS D3 Series Sewage Pumps is a typical pump that is commonly used by utility contractors, golf courses and the like. These pumps when combined with floats, check valves and control panels are used to pump water.
However, they require large electrical services to run.
A pump sold under the trademark DuraMax (e.g., a DuroMax XP652WP 2-Inch Intake 7 HP OHV 4-Cycle 158-Gallon-Per-Minute Gas-Powered Portable Water Pump) is another pump that is commonly used by utility contractors, golf courses and the like. These pumps are heavy, and notorious for being difficult to prime, as well as being affected by the mud.
Other prior art systems utilize a vacuum pump for the purpose of what is commonly called vacuum enhanced drainage. This is a method whereby the system tries to accelerate the flow of water downward through the soil by creating a negative pressure in the drainage layer, or in pipe below a growing medium. This method is sometimes found to be useful when removing water that is held at the point where water is on the border of gravitational and capillary water. Such a system is typically used with athletic fields, golf greens, or other places where removing rainwater as quickly as possible is the primary objective. In these systems, however, the vacuum pump is being used to assist the water to flow downhill and is not being used to elevate the water. Some of these systems may also use a fluid or standard pump or elevate the water.
As mentioned, some prior art systems utilize siphons in land drainage. In siphon systems, water never exits the system at an elevation above a water collection level or an inlet fluid level.
In other prior art systems, sometimes a vacuum pump is included to perform a desired function, e.g., in testing procedures, or sewerage and wastewater applications, but no known land drainage system or method uses a vacuum pump to lift or elevate water, enabling the water to exit the system above a water collection level or inlet fluid level.
There is a need in art for a land drainage system that can collect water at a collection site at an inlet fluid level and exit the water at an elevation that is above the collection site and inlet fluid level without the use of standard or fluid pumps.
The following US patent documents are hereby incorporated herein by reference thereto.
ISSUE/U.S. PAT.PUBLICATIONNO.TITLEDATE1,345,655SCREW PUMPJul. 6, 19203,788,544AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION Jan. 29, 1974SYSTEM3,908,385PLANTED SURFACE Sep. 30, 1975CONDITIONING SYSTEM4,348,135DRAINING, IRRIGATING ANDSep. 7, 1982AERATION OF SOIL AND HEATING OR COOLING OF SOIL4,704,047LAND DRAINAGE SYSTEMNov. 3, 19874,717,284DEVICE FOR DRAINING SOILS Jan. 5, 1988IN DEPTH4,988,235SYSTEM FOR DRAINING LAND Jan. 29, 1991AREAS THROUGH SIPHONING FROM A PERMEABLE CATCH BASIN4,919,568SYSTEM FOR DRAINING LAND Apr. 24, 1990AREAS THROUGH SIPHONING FROM A PERMEABLE CATCH BASIN4,927,292HORIZONTAL DWATERING May 22, 1990SYSTEM5,120,157TENNIS COURT IRRIGATIONJun. 9, 19925,219,243METHOD AND APPARATUS Jun. 15, 1993FOR THE HYDROLOGIC REGULATION OF TURF SOIL PROFILES5,350,251PLANTED SURFACE MOISTURESep. 27, 1994CONTROL SYSTEM5,590,980PLANTED SURFACE MOISTUREJan. 7, 1997CONTROL SYSTEM5,752,784LOW PROFILE DRAINAGE May 19, 1998NETWORK FOR ATHLETIC FIELD DRAINAGE SYSTEM5,848,856SUBSURFACE FLUID Dec. 15, 1998DRAINAGE STORAGE SYSTEMS5,944,444CONTROL SYSTEM FOR Aug. 31, 1999DRAINING IRRIGATING AND HEATING AN ATHLETIC FIELD6,095,718SUBSURFACE FLUID Aug. 1, 2000DRAINAGE AND STORAGE SYSTEMS6,990,993VACUUM DRAINAGE SYSTEMJan. 31, 20067,172,366GOLF COURSE ENVIRONMENTALFeb. 6, 2007MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ANDMETHOD7,413,380GOLF COURSE TURF Aug. 19, 2009CONDITIONING CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD2009/0056418METHOD AND SYSTEM FORMar. 5, 2000GROUNDWATER CONTAMINANT MONITORING